I’ve recently started reading the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Published in 1992, the book has since become a cult classic, and with good reason! When I first heard about the book around 5 years ago, I made the assumption that it was for visual artists rather than singers or songwriters, and that was the end of that!

A few weeks ago I found a copy in a charity shop, and I’m so glad that I did. As soon as I started reading I knew this was the book I’d been waiting for. If you’re an artist of any description I recommend this book. Perhaps you work in an office and sing for a hobby and you doubt that you are an artist. If you sing, then you are an artist. If you still don’t believe that you’re an artist, you will find tools in the book to help you tap into your creativity- and who doesn’t want that?

Try this simple exercise and watch your creativity blossom

If you are committed to developing your artistry as a Singer or Songwriter (or both) then try this exercise, as featured in the book.

Upon waking, every single day- make your ‘morning pages’ the first thing you do. What are morning pages? I hear you ask. Quite simply, you are going to put pen to paper and write 3 pages of whatever comes into your head. There are two rules;

1) don’t take your pen off the paper, just keep writing. If all you write is ‘blah blah blah’ – then that is ok.2) Don’t review what you have written when you have finished. At least not yet- leave it a week.

What is the purpose of this exercise?

The primary reason for this activity is to facilitate a ‘brain dump’- i.e to unblock and get rid of mental ‘noise’, leaving you refreshed and open to new ideas. Looking back on your pages, you may even find songwriting ideas emerging. ( This practice is also known as ‘free writing’ and was a favorite writing tool of beat poet Jack Kerouac.)

Jack Kerouac was a fan of freewriting

Try practicing this exercise every morning for 7 days and see the results for yourself. Does your mind feel less cluttered? Do you find yourself looking at the world in a new way? Let me know how you get on!